Kintica
Kintica is the latest world for the Ro and Llas story. It's an alternate Earth using the same geography, but not the countries and boundaries of Earth. Any mention of non-natural landmarks or boundaries are purely for reference purposes. Races Kintica has gargoyles, many varieties of merfolk, humans, and elves, which are a near human offshoot from homo sapiens that stayed up in the trees longer. Magic The magic of this world revolves around kinetic force and the manipulation thereof. It falls into four categories of two binaries: Matter and Energy with Internal and External applications. Energy is defined as kinetic force, heat energy (fire), and electrical energy (lightning or electro-magnetic). External Matter - Manipulation of matter *Summary **The user is able to take hold of solid, liquid, or gaseous matter and move it or otherwise physically affect it *Examples **Moving small objects **Moving a flow of water **Creating a breeze or small wind by moving air **Crushing or ripping apart solid objects **Condensing a gas into a liquid, or a liquid into a solid (requires exceptionally powerful skill) *Limitations **Matter cannot be created, it must be found **Weight limits are very small for solid matter, no more than a few pounds at most **Volume limits for liquids and gasses tends to be no more than 3-5 cubic feet *Specific Limitation Examples **Only able to move one form of matter **Only able to move metal **Weight limitations **Only able to move matter of a specific element, chemical composition, color, shape, etc. Internal Matter - Manipulation of one's own body *Summary **The ability to alter one's own internal structure temporarily *Examples **Altering one's own senses to become sharper or duller **Converting fast- and slow-twitch muscle mass from one to the other in order to accomplish greater speed or strength **Flooding system with adrenaline or creating a little more muscle mass in order to improve physical performance **Increasing and decreasing the density and weight of one's own bone structure in order to withstand more blunt force or hit harder **Making one's own skin either softer and finer or tougher and more weathered to increase sensitivity and touch or increase toughness **Altering the body to require less oxygen so one can survive at higher altitudes, or take less damage from CO2 to hold one's breath longer **Minor regenerative abilities *Limitations **Still subject to physics **Can only create a very small amount of additional muscle mass **Increasing or decreasing one's weight bone density too extremely can cause damage to one's body **Most abilities are only able to go a little farther in one direction or another; no extreme changes *Specific Limitation Examples **Most likely limitations are by type or example External Energy - Manipulation of energy *Summary **The manipulation of energy without alteration or internalization *Examples **Harness kinetic, heat, or electric energy and move it ***Take energy found in the environment or which is thrown at you, capture it, and throw it back or direct it to some other use **Create shields which automatically deflect or redirect energy, throwing it off to the side or whipping it around back to the attacker *Limitations **Cannot create or alter energy sources **Cannot use energy on one's own body **Cannot absorb energy *Specific Limitation Examples **Only able to handle certain kinds of energy **Only able to catch and redirect energy; no fine motor control **Only able to handle a certain amount of energy **Range limitations **Line-of-sight limitations **Cannot catch energy automatically Internal Energy - Utilization of energy *Summary **The internalization of energy for alteration and further utilization *Examples **Absorbing energy and then storing or converting it **Using stored or found energy to: ***Create fire, lightning, or kinetic force ***Lend kinetic force to one's own movements **Absorbing energy and then releasing it in a safe, dispersed manner, either into the surrounding area or the ground on which one is planted ***The area of dispersal (ground or surrounding) is usually determined by the limitations of one's specific abilities, not by choice ***When dispersed into the ground, the ground absorbs the energy. An inadequately stable or strong platform will suffer the effects. ***When dispersed into the surrounding area, it will take the form of a shockwave, intense heatwave, or electro-magnetic pulse *Limitations **Cannot continually manipulate energy, only absorb, convert, and release **Can only store small amounts **Can only absorb and convert so much energy *Specific Limitation Examples **Only able to handle certain kinds of energy **Only able to absorb certain kinds **Only able to create certain kinds **Only able to utilize energy in certain ways Environment A very small but prominent fraction of kinetics develop a mental illness or futher mysterious power that drives them violently into the realm of mad scientist. They become arrogant, aggressive, psychopathic, and driven to experiment and create monstrosities, subjugate citizens, and dominate minions. These mad kinetics can terrorize towns and entire countrysides. Thankfully, they have a very difficult time working with anyone else as equals, and thus rarely cooperate. Much of the world consists of vast swathes of chaotic wilderness with islands of civilization and stability. The wilderness can vary greatly in unpredictability and danger, some areas being far worse than others. The worst danger in these places comes from mad kinetics or their creations, which sometimes remain in the area long after their creator dies, but the wildness of these places also attract a wide variety of the more mundane criminal element. Ruffians, criminals, thugs, and bandits populate these areas readily without order and law to stop them. Because gargoyles have only a passive agrarian magic and no kinetics, historically the areas with higher gargoyle populations were statistically the safest. They've also developed a military which aggressively hunts and polices rogue and mad kinetics. Over the centuries, two great centers of the world's civilization have evolved: Europe and China. The historical borders of the center of Europe were the Pyrenees and Alps to the west and south, the easter border of Germany, and all the way north through the UK, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. In recent centuries this region has expanded to all of Europe. This is the center of the civilized world. Second in safety is the region of China and Mongolia. This area is much larger geographically, with the population a little more spread out. Thus very small, isolated pockets of instability and wilderness can form before being cleared out.